Work on the Kanban board
You can use the backlog and the Kanban board to determine what's in progress, who's doing what, what needs to be done next, and what's been accomplished.
If you don't have a backlog yet, create one now.
Go to your backlog page and open the Kanban board.
Your first 20 items appear in backlog priority order, so if you don't see a backlog item, it probably isn't in your top 20.
Move an item into the next column to change its state.
Assign an item to someone. You can also set an estimate.
You can review progress over time by expanding the chart.
The cumulative flow diagram (CFD) shows up to 30 weeks of data.
Update your work in progress limits
Manage the amount of work your team has in progress by setting WIP limits for each column.
If you’re not a team administrator, get added as one. Only team administrators can customize the Kanban board.
Open the customization dialog.
Set the limits.
You can see when a column has more items in it than its WIP limit allows.
Change the title of a column
If the title of a column doesn't reflect how your team works, you can change it.
If you’re not a team administrator, get added as one. Only team administrators can customize the Kanban board.
Open the customization dialog.
Set the title.
Add a column
If you want to capture more details of your workflow in the Kanban board, you can add a column.
If you’re not a team administrator, get added as one. Only team administrators can customize the Kanban board.
Open the customization dialog.
Add the column.
Give it a title and assign it to a corresponding work item state.
Q & A
Q: Can I use the Kanban board with features?
A: Yes, there's a Kanban board for features, too. It works just like the Kanban board for backlog items.
Q: Why aren't all of my completed items in the done column?
A: The done column displays 20 completed items, with the ones you completed most recently at the top.
Q: Can I change the order of the columns?
A: Yes, if you're a team administrator you can move columns (except the first and last columns) in the customization dialog.
Q:Can I delete a column?
A:Yes, unless there are work items in that column. In that case, you'll have to move them to another column first.
Q:Why are the column headings different?
A:These column headings are based on a team project that uses the Scrum process template. If your team project was created with a different process template, the headings could be different. Also, someone else on your team might have changed the column titles!
Q:Do you want to learn more about managing your work from industry experts?
A:Read the following whitepapers: Building and Managing the Product Backlog and Estimating.
Try this next
- Do you want to schedule your work for defined work periods? Try working in sprints.
- Don't want to work in sprints? Try working together in a team room.